Turn the spotlight on Zuma - Ramphele

Agang leader Mamphela Ramphele has denounced criticism of her wealth, saying the spotlight should be on President Jacob Zuma's finances.

Ramphele yesterday spoke to residents of Vryground, an impoverished community in Cape Town.

She rejected an edition of Forbes magazine that estimated her wealth at over R500-million two years ago - 10 times the figure she revealed last week.

"Why would you believe a magazine, why won't you believe me? Our country is being stolen dry.

"Zuma should disclose to citizens his interests and [those] of his family," said Ramphele.

She said it was not enough that Zuma informed the cabinet of his business interests .

These interests had to be made known to the public , she said.

Ramphele denied she was raising funds through Facebook, saying that she did not even have a Facebook account.

Earlier, a small crowd gathered in front of a church where Ramphele gave a short speech.

Most of their questions related to service delivery.

Ramphele was supposed to address residents in a local community hall but she said the plan had been scuppered by a community leader - "somebody [who] believes he has the right to decide who goes into that community hall".

"Agang says let us build a community that can come together, and we can see that the common enemy is corruption that is stealing text books, free houses, stealing roads - stealing all the things that we need," said Ramphele.

She told residents that Agang's representatives would be setting up voting stations to ensure that there was no poll "cheating".

"We are not going to allow anybody to steal your vote," said Ramphele.

She said the party was doing everything it could to make an impact at next year's polls, including holding regular surveys.

"We will do well enough to shape the polls," said Ramphele.

Some of her party members in the Western Cape were drawn from the African Christian Democratic Party and the Independent Democrats, including the former deputy mayor of Cape Town, Andrew Arnolds.

He said more members of the Independent Democrats are likely to join as the party will dissolve next year due to its merger with the DA.